PRESS STATEMENT


GUPTA BROTHERS NOW VANUATU CITIZENS

This press release is to clarify the Financial Intelligence Unit’s (FIU) position on the above subject matter.

On 13th February 2018, the FIU received a request for probity checks to be conducted on the above mentioned brothers and their families from a Development Support Program (DSP) agent under the Vanuatu Citizenship Office,. Upon conducting the necessary checks we identified adverse information on the applicants and informed the agent and the Citizenship Office accordingly through the issuance of two letters dated 14th and 27th February 2018.

Furthermore, on 5th July 2018 the same client documents were resubmitted to this office by another DSP agent of which we conducted the necessary probity checks and issued adverse findings again.

On 2nd April 2019 the FIU disseminated a letter to the Citizenship Office maintaining our position of adverse findings on the Gupta brothers given that they were subject to on-going criminal investigations in South Africa.

The onus was put on to the discretionary authority of the Citizenship Screening Committee to review the applications of the above mentioned persons and provide them with their response.
Since then the FIU has not conducted any re-review of the Gupta brothers applications nor have we changed our position on our initial findings on them.